Small businesses

Most businesses in Sweden are small. Just 0,2 percent of all businesses have more than 200 employees. 94 percent of the businesses have less than 10 employees. A majority of the companies are not a full time job for the owner. At the same time, these companies are important for many reasons, not least that they are sources of renewal and development.

The small businesses, by the definition above, have more than 60 percent of all persons in private employement in Sweden. The small businesses are primarily operating the local market. Only a fifth of the Swedish export comes from the small businesses The Swedish industrial structure differs only marginally from the other countries in the European Community.

Of the small companies are only about a fifth of all employees in the manufacturing companies. Most small companies are in the service sector and the dominating sectors are construction, trade, hotel, restaurant and other private services. The service sector is polarized with on one side the qualified company services that employ highly educated labour (consultants etc.) and on the other side the service sector that are dominated by relatively low educated personnel (cleaning services etc.).

The small businesses stands behind a great deal of the total annual net contribution of new employment. When it comes to innovations and new technology there is a number of small companies that are extremely innovative. They often operate close to the universities.